Mondelez to invest $65 million in global research hubs

DEERFIELD - Mondelez International will invest $65 million to build a global research, development and quality network of the future.

The investment will enable the company to better recruit, retain and develop talent across a range of science and technical disciplines while also creating a stronger presence in both emerging and developed markets. When complete, the redesigned network will consist of a combination of new and existing technical centers that will be more flexible and agile in responding to the company's growth and innovation needs.

Over the next two years, the company will focus its RDQ network at nine advantaged technical centers, concentrating people and resources into better equipped hubs. The nine sites are in Mexico City, Mexico; East Hanover, New Jersey; Bournville, United Kingdom; Reading, United Kingdom; Wroclaw, Poland; Thane, India; Suzhou, China; Jurong, Singapore; and Curitiba, Brazil

"With these advantaged technical centers, we're focusing our investment in research, equipment and capabilities to drive innovation to support our growth strategy and innovation, margin and quality platforms," said Rob Hargrove, executive vice president, RDQ. "These hubs will enable improved efficiency, effectiveness and accelerated project delivery, while the increased scale across key markets will provide rapid access to changing consumer needs and trends."

Three of the centers - East Hanover, Bournville and Reading - are already in full operation. The company will break ground on the Singapore facility in November 2016 and the Thane facility in December 2016 with the new Wroclaw building opening in 2017. The remainder of the redesigned network will open through 2018.